Henderson, Earl M. (1922-1998)

HENDERSON, KRUMM, CLEM, WICKLEIN, VESPESTED

Posted By: Colleen Ossman (email)
Date: 5/8/2008 at 14:29:04

(Published in the Webster City or Jewell paper)

Earl M. Henderson

Earl M. Henderson, 75, 1218 N. 11th St., died Thursday, July 16, 1998, at Trinity Regional Hospital. Services were Monday, July 20 at St. Olaf Lutheran church with the Rev. Allen E. Hermeier officiating. Burial was in Graceland Cemetery, Webster City with military rites by VFW Post 1856.

Survivors include his wife, Cleo; sons, Nick, of West Des Moines and Hal, of Rochester, MN; five grandchildren; brother, Willard of Ellsworth; sisters, Ruth Clem, of Ames, and Alice Wicklein, of Rochester, MN. He was preceded in death by his parents William and Maggie Henderson and sister, Florence Vespested.

Earl M. Henderson was born October 17, 1922, in Ellsworth. He grew up there and graduated from Ellsworth High School in 1939. From 1940 to 1941, he attended Luther College at Decorah and then Iowa State University from 1941 to 1943. He then served in the U.S. Navy during WWII as an ensign and served in the Pacific Theatre of Operations.

Following the war, he returned to Iowa State and received a Bachelors degree in 1948. He then taught GI School at Story City. In 1955 he returned to Iowa State and received his Masters Degree in 1956. He then moved to Fort Dodge where he worked for the Webster County Extension Service. In 1963, he went to work for Union Trust & Savings Bank, which later became United Central Bank, then First Interstate Bank. At the bank he was Senior Vic-President and was the head of the Ag Dept., retiring in 1986.

In 1964 he married Cleo Krumm in Ft. Dodge where the couple made their home. He was a memaber of the Fort Dodge Rotary Club, serving on Rotary's Agriculture Committee and received an Honorary Member Award in 1997. He was a member of St. Olaf Lutheran Church, serving on the church's foundation board, teaching 7th grade Sunday School, and serving on the Church Council. He was also a member of the Fort Dodge Chamber of Commerce, serving on the Chamber's Agriculture Committee, and was a Charter Member of the Chamber Ambassadors as well as past Treasurer of the Fort Dodge School Board. He worked for many years on the Webster County 4-H Fair in the areas of judging and herdsmanship, and also worked on setting up the 4-H Scholarship. He was a member of the RSVP - read and helped children at Duncombe School. He was a past Board Member of the Trinity Regional Hospital Foundation Board and served as chairman in 1996.